ANN ARBOR -- John Beilein has said the last time he climbed a ladder, on a basketball court, at least, his mind was already on the next game.

It's been a running joke since Michigan dismantled Florida in last season's Elite Eight. Following that 79-59 win, Beilein snipped the final strings on a net in Arlington, Texas, to mark Michigan's return to the Final Four.

Beilein would later reveal that at that moment -- the exact point in time when his 36-year coaching career culminated in a defining victory -- he was already over it. He was instead thinking about if Michigan would have to go up against Syracuse's zone defense.

"You guys know I'm not good at that stuff," Beilein said Tuesday, when Michigan captured the 2014 Big Ten regular-season title with a win at Illinois.

This time the nets in Ann Arbor came down. Beilein again found himself ascending a ladder for the final snips.

No one can be sure exactly what the 61-year-old was thinking, but upon reaching the top and taking hold of the net, Beilein held it in the air, looked out to the crowd and repeated, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"We've really been waiting since Tuesday to celebrate and our kids are ecstatic with the way this season as ended," Beilein said later. "I can't thank our administration and everyone enough for putting that together. I had no idea all that was going to go on. It's great for the fans to stick around and see a tribute to a really special team."

Beilein has mentioned the Crisler crowd after most, if not all, home games this season.

All of the building's 12,707 seats have been sold for Michigan's last 10 games, dating back to a Dec. 14 meeting with No. 1 Arizona.

That day and Feb. 16 game against Wisconsin, marked the Wolverines' lone home losses of the season. They won the other 13 home dates. Overall, U-M is 45-4 at Crisler over the last three season.

The home-court advantages are a abundant. Michigan shot 50.8 percent from the field at home this year and 46.7 percent on the road.

Last night's crowd offered a thundering early ovation for U-M senior Jordan Morgan before the game tipped off. They then watch the Wolverines push past the Hoosiers in an entertaining outing behind 21 point by Nik Stauskas and a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double by Morgan.

Much of the crowd remained for the postgame ceremony.

Beilein said Saturday's game feature "two entities: Jordan Morgan and this huge crowd.

"They’ve come through a terrible winter, there’s 12,707," Beilein said. Indeed, it seemed like it snowed on most gamedays in Ann Arbor. "Every game that they’re here the students are waiting outside.

"Finish this thing the right way. And of course, for the guys in the room it would be great to celebrate a championship here with all our fans. I had a pretty good hunch the fans would stick around if we had a win.”

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com